Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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It pressed on his eardrums and he could hear his heart pounding loudly. The prize! He scrambled to his knees and then to his feet. He noted indifferently that one shoe was missing: Forster ran to the tree and without hesitating plunged his hand into the dark hole near the bottom. He never heard the dry whirr and barely felt the sharp pain in his wrist. His hand jerked back and involuntarily rose to the level of his eyes. When he saw the two tiny drops of blood his parched lips parted to emit a scream which he never heard. He stared transfixed at the softly oozing blood. He could smell the dry, musty odour of death all around. He started to his feet with another shrill scream and stag- gered, half running, into the swamp. Scream after scream shattered the silence. His soft brown eyes were now distended and horribly staring, seeing nothing. He pitched forward over a root and with a convulsive spasm lay quite still, face down in the muck. A lone ily, full of eggs, buzzed heavily in circles and finally settled on a small scratch still softly running with red blood. Al sat in the cabin stoop and smoked thoughtfully. VVhere was that silly bastard? Had he run off? and m-ost of all What was in that letter? He felt a little sorry for that fat little slob. He took things t-oo seriously. A cloud of dust. down the road caught his attention. Perhaps this was Forster. It was the boy with the mail. He climbed down from his battered jalopy, white teeth showing up his back face. Hello Mistah Al he said, handing him the pack of letters. Hello Pete. You haven 't seen Forster hey? Nossir, o11ly one I seen to-day was dat Mexican boy Juan comin' off de swamp road. Sho has a nice sister that boy. Al leered in the manner of men who don 't want to be mistaken. It was a knowing leer that left nothing to the imagination. Pete didn 't seem to notice, but rambled on too bad she had to get in that fix. She tried to kill herself ya know. She got in trouble and her brother found out. Touehy people them greasersf' he said ambling back to his battered wreck of a ear. Twenty-four

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Forster ate slowly, the rebellion draining out of him leaving self-condemna- tion in its place. Al really wasn't such a bad guy, he thought, I shouldn't have gone oft' like that after he was good enough to sell me the letter in the first place. He resolved to tell Al all about it to-morrow and went to bed a little sorry, but, nonetheless, feeling a thrill of pride in the way he had stood up against Al. Next morning, however, Al was gone before he woke and so Jim didn't have a chance to explain. He noticed that Al hadn't washed his dinner or breakfast dishes and it angered him. He supposed Al had done it to get even ' '. He considered that pretty small and petty. The more he thought, the more it angered him. The girl 's favour, mentioned in the letter, offered an excellent chance for reprisal. The sun was slamming its white hot rays against the burning sand, the glare was intolerable, the heat intense. Even the fiies were silent. birds had long since retired to the depths of the grove, not even a squirrel chattered. Forster pushed on his hat and started down the burning road. It was pure torture to continue but his intense dislike of the man he wished to hurt kept. him plodding through the shifting sand. After a mile or so the ground became a little more solid and then turned soft and swampy with tufted humm-ocks of rough grass which cut cruelly at his bare ankles. He finally stumbled onto the swamp road which led him into the steaming, fetid growth. He sat on a stump, wiping sweat from his eyes with the back of his hand. God it was hot! His numbed brain could hardly register. He was heartily sorry that he had left now. He hoped it wasn 't much further. He continued d-own the rough trail for nearly a mile until he saw the marker which meant that he had to cut right into the swamp from there on. He was nearly exhausted from weariness and the effects of the heat. The mosquitos attacked his soft body mercilessly. He slapped at them futilely with short desperate motions. Hod, he was almost there! VVithout st-opping he turned off the trail. Immediately his feet sank into the soft ground, frightening him. He jumped back onto the trail in terror VVas it quicksand? He didn 't. know. He was abysmally ignorant of swamp 1-ore. Forster realized that it must be safe if someone had been there before. He slogged off through the swamp with the muck pulling at his feet, the foot- prints slowly filling with water. Dimly through the trees and vines he saw what appeared to be an island of higher ground with a large tree on it. That was it! He was frantic. He had fallen over hidden roots twice and his hands and knees were black, vines slapped at his face and resisted every movement. The insects hovered around him in clouds, biting him cruelly. He staggered on, sobbing. The importance ot' his goal and the prize awaiting him had assumed tremendous proportions in his mind. He stumbled and fell heavily on a turfy bank. He was there! The sun beat down on him as he lay panting in the tiny clearing. Silence enveloped him like a shroud. Twenty-three

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ctivities new boys ' night HE RICH STORE of Pickering tradition finds no better expression tha11 on new- boys' night. The new students and masters in each corridor perform some skit for the older boys. Lower South, starring Doug Mawson as the Blupc Builder, took the honours. After the corridor extravaganzas, the old boys realized that there was work to be done: the annual scourge of snipe fHeterometabolous Arthropodaj had again struck the neighbourhood. After refreshments, the new boys responded magnificently to the repeated invitations to help stamp out the menace. It was surprising to see such ardent bird lovers as Heorge Benness and John Graham so enthusiastic in the hunt. High in hopes of winning the coveted reward for catching the first snipe, the little band donned old clothes and armed themselves with Hashlights and pillow cases and headed out. The inexperienced new boys returned shortly, exhausted and shivering. As a result of some rather poor organization, some ot' the more experienced hunters found it necessary to work on until almost three o'clock in the morning. Even then they did not. feel their task was successfully completed. The hunt did not proceed strictly according to plans, and there were surprises for every- one. I am sure all gained some experience which they will not want to forget. parents' day HE scHo0L COMMI'l'TF.E circulated early in the morning ejecting from their slumber those who saw no reason for rising when there were no classes. By noon, the many elaborate displays had been prepared from which the parents gained an insight into the many extracurricular activities of the Uollege. In the gym, a close basketball game between our Senior Prep. and Huelph was played and a gymnastic display by grade X thrilled all who watched. The Root of Minus One Club exhibited many weird and marvelous contraptions. Tuferily-fire